


Split Lips, Bloody Knuckles

by PinkJungkook



Category: Naruto
Genre: Depression, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Self-Esteem Issues, Time Travel Fix-It, don't tell him different it'll hurt his feelings, he's doing his best, he's very well adjusted, sasuke had therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:40:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23098711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkJungkook/pseuds/PinkJungkook
Summary: When Sasuke is sent back in time after taking a hit meant for Naruto he decides that things are going to be different. He's been doing a lot of self reflection and comes to the conclusion that thinking is over-rated.He's also had a lot of therapy so he's very well adjusted now, do not test him.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 10
Kudos: 102





	1. I am very well-adjusted, thank you for asking

The day starts as nothing special. He’s been back in the village for two years and he finally has a routine. At the beginning he’d spent a lot of time wallowing, had hardly talked to anyone who didn’t specifically seek him out (so just Naruto and Sakura, occasionally Kakashi) and sleeping his life away. After a month Sakura convinced Kakashi that he needed therapy and he couldn’t ignore a direct order from the Hokage, especially not so soon after his re-integration when half the village still wanted him locked up. At the beginning therapy had seemed like an exercise in futility for everyone involved, but looking back he can see that it had a positive impact. He gets up every morning and acts like a productive member of society. He’s convinced Kakashi that he’s stable enough to take missions. He even talks to more than 3 people if he’s having a really great day. He’s practically the picture of mental health by Uchiha standards.  


When Kakashi tells him that he’s going to be in a unit with Naruto and Shino for the day he thinks nothing of it. Naruto doesn’t get out as much as he used to since he’s often tied up by bureaucracy these days, but it isn’t completely abnormal for them to go on a mission together. It’s not even S rank, it should be a simple capture mission of a rogue nobody camped out 50 miles west of the village who has been causing problems for travelers. Easy.  


The most grating part is that it really should’ve been easy. Not being able to use lethal force could be a bit annoying, but it certainly should’ve been doable. But nothing in his life has ever been easy when it needs to be so he’s not sure why he’s surprised when everything goes to hell in a hand-basket.  


What is supposed to be one maybe A-rank criminal turns out to be about 30 missing nin, all following the lead of some guy who has delusions about world domination and bright green hair. Honestly, not even that exciting. They make good progress and everything is going great but then the green guy pulls a jutsu he’s never seen before. All of a sudden there’s a strange purple light headed towards Naruto’s unguarded back while he’s busy with 5 ninja, and Sasuke can see the idiot take note and brace for impact.  


The thing is, Sasuke may be in a better place mentally, but if there is a choice between him or Naruto he is completely aware of which of them is more important. He may be the last Uchiha but there will only ever be one Uzumaki Naruto, and he’s arguably done more for the world by himself at the age of 20 than the Uchiha ever did. He doesn’t even hesitate to jump in from of the light to block Naruto, regardless of whatever consequences may befall him. He tries to deflect it but the ball seems to be some new kind of chakra that bullishly ignores his efforts. He takes the full blast straight to the chest.  


He hears Naruto scream his name but is distracted by a feeling he imagines must be similar to being inside a star when it collapses in on itself. He manages to look up and make eye contact with the maniac, only having time to appreciate the furious look on his face and his mouth opening, probably to exposit what the unknown jutsu was meant to do as villains usually do when around Naruto, before his body fully gives in under the sensation and his world goes dark.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He doesn’t expect to open his eyes again, and when he does he’s not sure how to feel about it. Then he remembers he’s supposed to be a paragon of mental health and decides that means he should probably be happy that he didn’t wake up dead.  


He is less inclined to be pleased when he sits up and realizes that there’s no sign of Naruto, Shino, or the band of problem missing nin with their crazy leader. There aren’t even any signs that a battle that occurred. He figures the jutsu must have been some weird teleportation technique that he was unfamiliar with, but his main concern at the moment is finding Naruto and Shino and kicking that crazy asshole who got the drop on him squarely in the teeth.  


He pushes himself up to better observe his surroundings. His arms protest immediately, and he pauses to take stock of himself. He feels like he just went 10 rounds with Naruto on the days when Kakashi decides that they need to “bond” by beating the shit out of each other until they collapse. Every fiber of his body aches and he has to take a deep breath before he can see straight. When he manages to focus he takes in the clearing he seems to have landed in. It doesn’t seem particularly special until he recognizes the little shack off the side, sitting next to a bubbling stream and nestled into the tree line. It gives him pause because it closely resembles the shack that the group had been using as a ramshackle base of operations, though it does seem a bit further from spontaneously collapsing than the one he’d seen earlier. But that can’t be right, because that would mean he is in the correct place. That opens up a line of thought that he does not want to pursue right now.  


He pushes himself to his feet, energized by the anxiety inducing prospect that he refuses to acknowledge right now. His therapist says denial isn’t helpful in the long run but he can not fucking deal with that right now.  


He takes a moment to gather his thoughts and decides that he’ll head southeast. If he is in the same clearing where they were fighting earlier he should reach a small village that serves as an outpost, and has been there for as long as anyone remembers. And if it turns out he’s correct then he’ll just have to be prepared for his completely understandable and very well adjusted mental breakdown that is about to ensue.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


In another another timeline, one that has irrevocable split off from the one in which Sasuke has found himself, Naruto is currently dealing with the disappearance of his stupid, self-sacrificing best friend. After the blast it had been a blur but the end result had been 24 dead missing nin, one captured megalomaniac, minimal injuries for himself and Shino, and a disappearance for Sasuke. He had been tempted to stop then and there and beat answers out of the asshole but Shino had talked him into taking the dickhead back to Konoha for interrogation. T&I would probably get answers out of him faster than they could.  


When they get back and drop of the douchebag he rushes straight to Kakashi’s office. When he makes his report his voice breaks, but he keeps it together. Sasuke needs him to keep it together. The more efficient they are the quicker they can get him back.  
The look on Kakashi’s face is deceptively calm but Naruto can see the storm brewing underneath. The asshole better be prepared because he’s about to be in a world of hurt. God help him when Sakura finds out.  


It takes 10 hours for the enemy to break. He’s tortured for another 11 before they are willing to take what he said as truth.  


Sasuke is somewhere else now. Perhaps even somewhen else. Even the enemy doesn’t know exactly how the jutsu works, but he is adamant that it is irreversible. The timeline has split.  


Naruto has never been one to accept things as impossible.  


It will take him a long time to accept that he’ll never see his best friend again.


	2. I'm coping, it's a process

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Denial is one step in the path to acceptance. Killing Zetsu is another step.

Even after Sasuke has confirmed his worst case scenario has come true, it takes 3 days before the denial wears off and he forces himself to sit down and come up with a plan.

He’s never been good with plans. Most of his big plans are unmitigated disasters. 

Okay, so he’s apparently in a different universe, or at the very least, a different time. He talks to a local and it turns out that he’s almost 20 years in the past from the point he disappeared from. He isn’t even born yet, and won’t be for about 6 months. Itachi is like five. Kakashi is a teenager. 

He has information and now he has to decide what to do with it. Theoretically, if this timeline is currently the same as the one he was born in and only differs because he’s now present he could change things. 

He could take of Madara before his plans have a chance to get off the ground. He could get rid of Zetsu before he has a chance to touch anyone he cares about. 

He could save Naruto’s parents. He’d never have to grow up as a lonely orphan, ostracized for something he never had any choice about. 

He could save his family. He could eliminate the pressure that cause the plan for the coup to form. He could fucking murder Danzo. 

He could save his brother. 

Or he could do nothing. 

On one hand the choice seems outrageously simple. He could do so much good, eliminate so much suffering for the people he loves. If there is one thing therapy has taught him it’s that no matter how much he tries to convince himself otherwise his emotional well-being is often a direct consequence of his closest relationships. 

On the other hand, most of his most precious people were in pretty good positions when he left. Naruto is pretty much in training to be the next Hokage. Kakashi might be tempted to pull his hair out on a daily basis but he’s doing a good job. Much better than several of his predecessors. Sakura is a fully realized medic nin and honestly completely terrifying. Would preventing their suffering be worth putting that happy future at risk? It’s surprisingly difficult to come to a conclusion. It almost feels selfish, wanting to prevent their suffering even though they turned out okay in the end. Is he just doing this for some buried selfish impulse? Is he really doing it for them? 

Dr. Yamanaka says that he has a tendency to talk himself in circles. He stresses about things so much that when he finally makes a decision it’s out of desperation and generally turns out poorly. So instead of thinking about what he would do he thinks about what his people would do. Would Naruto be struggling like this to come to a conclusion? Would he willingly step back and let things take their course? 

Of-fucking course he wouldn’t. And there’s his decision. Naruto may be an idiot but he’s an idiot of action. 

Maybe Sasuke could do with a little more idiocy, anyway. Thinking things through never got him anywhere. \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

With his three day long existential breakdown over he decides to map out his goals. His therapist says it’s good to have clear goals that are achievable. 

First, he’s going to find Zetsu and seal that motherfucker so hard he’ll never see the light of day again. Naruto has been developing loads of seals in the last few years, and it turns out that being his best friend has the benefit of mooching off of his hard work. There is a particular seal that should be perfect for this purpose. Using a very small seal you can seal almost anything into an everyday object. It’s absolutely perfect for hiding things that never need to be found, and also has the added benefit that if the object is destroyed there is virtually no way to get the sealed object back. Naruto has no idea where they go. There’s probably a pocket dimension that’s full of weird knick knacks at this point. He thinks Zetsu would be a great addition. He thinks about writing out a complete list of everyone he needs to deal with but decides against it. He’ll focus on one goal at a time and then decide his course of action from there. He’s never seen Naruto make a to-do list in his entire life, so neither will Sasuke. (He’s already worried that using Naruto as his moral compass is a bad idea. He is not nearly as lucky as Naruto. He has a feeling this is going to blow up in his face. But that’s a very un-Naruto-like thought so he pushes it aside. ) \---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Tracking Zetsu proves difficult. He has no clue what he was doing before he started skulking around Akatsuki. In the end he decides to head north and put his tracking skills to the test. 

The Land of Waterfalls ends up largely being a bust. As he travels he gathers information, but nothing major comes from it. The Third War is a recent memory and many people are wary of strangers, but he finds that pubs are still a wealth of gossip. He hears whispers that send him west, toward the Land of Earth. The terrain is brutal and in the end he finds nothing of import. 

He continues to travel and the cycle of disappointment repeats itself. After three months of no progress he’s growing frustrated. He travelled through the Land of Wind, south to the Land of Tea, he had even stopped by the Wave for a week. Nothing but whispers in the wind. He’s covered more miles than he likes to think about and hasn’t heard anything specific about a creepy plant man. He’s also inadvertently began building up a reputation for himself. Apparently a lone Uchiha is an interesting commodity. He limits the use of his Sharingan but gossip travels fast and he can’t avoid using it completely. He’s not sure who puts a price on his head for just existing, but he fends off 8 attempted assassination during his months of searching. He leaves no survivors but the message still spreads, and this only serves to build his reputation more. It’s times like these where it occurs to him that maybe tattoos weren’t the best idea for a ninja. He already looks like an Uchiha, and his tattoos make him even more unique. But he also loves his tattoos and would fight anyone else who suggested that, so he just buys a long sleeve top and moves on. It doesn’t stop him from getting recognized. He’s made it all the way to the Land of Lightning and he’s almost at his wits end. He thought Zetsu would stay on the mainland but now he’s wondering if he’s camped out in one of the island nations. If that’s the case travelling will get significantly more complicated and it will be even more difficult to avoid unnecessary attention. Just when he’s tempted to postpone the Zetsu situation and move on to another goal something completely Naruto happens. He’s moving between two small villages, trying to gather intel and he stumbles across a cave. He almost passes it by but his intuition drives him to explore it. 

Naruto always follows his gut. 

It’s the biggest lucky break of his entire life because it turns out what Zetsu was doing before skulking after Akatsuki was skulking in caves in the Land of Lightning. They’re both shocked to see each other, but Sasuke reacts faster. He at least knew there was a possibility of running into Zetsu here while his opponent doesn’t even know who he is in this timeline. He manages to trap him in genjutsu and seal him in a scrap of paper. He considers the paper for a moment, a bit taken aback that everything went so well. It makes him uneasy that it was over so quickly. He then dismisses that train of thought and gleefully lights the paper on fire and watches as it turns to ashes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No beta, please excuse any mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> Sasuke is OOC but this Sasuke has also had therapy so of course he is


End file.
